Evaluating gull diets: A comparison of conventional methods and stable isotope analysis
Emily L. Weiser, Abby N. Powell
2011, Journal of Field Ornithology (82) 297-310
Samples such as regurgitated pellets and food remains have traditionally been used in studies of bird diets, but these can produce biased estimates depending on the digestibility of different foods. Stable isotope analysis has been developed as a method for assessing bird diets that is not biased by digestibility. These...
Short-term survival and effects of transmitter implantation into western grebes using a modified surgical procedure
Joseph K. Gaydos, J. Gregory Massey, Daniel M. Mulcahy, Lori A. Gaskins, David Nysewander, Joseph Evenson, Paul B. Siegel, Michael H. Ziccardi
2011, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (42) 414-425
Two pilot trials and one study in a closely related grebe species suggest that Western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) will not tolerate intracoelomic transmitter implantation with percutaneous antennae and often die within days of surgery. Wild Western grebes (n = 21) were captured to evaluate a modified surgical technique. Seven birds...
Integument coloration signals reproductive success, heterozygosity, and antioxidant levels in chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes
S. Leclaire, J. White, E. Arnoux, B. Faivre, N. Vetter, Scott A. Hatch, E. Danchin
2011, Die Naturwissenschaften (98) 773-782
Carotenoid pigments are important for immunity and as antioxidants, and carotenoid-based colors are believed to provide honest signals of individual quality. Other colorless but more efficient antioxidants such as vitamins A and E may protect carotenoids from bleaching. Carotenoid-based colors have thus recently been suggested to reflect the concentration of...
Variations in eruption style during the 1931A.D. eruption of Aniakchak volcano, Alaska
R.S. Nicholson, J.E. Gardner, C.A. Neal
2011, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (207) 69-82
The 1931 A.D. eruption of Aniakchak volcano, Alaska, progressed from subplinian to effusive eruptive style and from trachydacite to basaltic andesite composition from multiple vent locations. Eyewitness accounts and new studies of deposit stratigraphy provide a combined narrative of eruptive events. Additional field, compositional, grain size, componentry, density, and grain morphology...
Characteristics of foraging sites and protein status in wintering muskoxen: insights from isotopes of nitrogen
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, James P. Lawler, Stephen M. Arthur, Brad S. Shults, Kate Persons, Layne G. Adams
2011, Oikos (120) 1546-1556
Identifying links between nutritional condition of individuals and population trajectories greatly enhances our understanding of the ecology, conservation, and management of wildlife. For northern ungulates, the potential impacts of a changing climate to populations are predicted to be nutritionally mediated through an increase in the severity and variance in winter...
The role of dyking and fault control in the rapid onset of eruption at Chaitén Volcano, Chile
Charles Wicks, Llera J. C. De La J. C., L.E. Lara, J. Lowenstern
2011, Nature (478) 374-377
Rhyolite is the most viscous of liquid magmas, so it was surprising that on 2 May 2008 at Chaitén Volcano, located in Chile’s southern Andean volcanic zone, rhyolitic magma migrated from more than 5 km depth in less than 4 hours and erupted explosively with only two days of detected precursory seismic activity....
Temperature-associated population diversity in salmon confers benefits to mobile consumers
Casey P. Ruff, Daniel E. Schindle, Jonathan B. Armstrong, Kale T. Bentle, Gabriel T. Brooks, Gordon W. Holtgrieve, Molly T. McGlauflin, Christian E. Torgersen, James E. Seeb
2011, Ecology (92) 2073-2084
Habitat heterogeneity can generate intraspecific diversity through local adaptation of populations. While it is becoming increasingly clear that population diversity can increase stability in species abundance, less is known about how population diversity can benefit consumers that can integrate across population diversity in their prey. Here we demonstrate cascading effects...
Long-term increases in young-of-the-year growth of Arctic cisco Coregonus autumnalis and environmental influences
Vanessa R. von Biela, Christian E. Zimmerman, L.L. Moulton
2011, Journal of Fish Biology (78) 39-56
Arctic cisco Coregonus autumnalis young‐of‐year (YOY) growth was used as a proxy to examine the long‐term response of a high‐latitude fish population to changing climate from 1978 to 2004. YOY growth increased over time (r2 = 0·29) and was correlated with monthly averages of the Arctic oscillation index, air temperature, east wind speed,...
Effects of simultaneous climate change and geomorphic evolution on thermal characteristics of a shallow Alaskan lake
Jennifer R. Griffiths, Daniel E. Schindler, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Gregory T. Ruggerone
2011, Limnology and Oceanography (56) 193-205
We used a hydrodynamics model to assess the consequences of climate warming and contemporary geomorphic evolution for thermal conditions in a large, shallow Alaskan lake. We evaluated the effects of both known climate and landscape change, including rapid outlet erosion and migration of the principal inlet stream, over the past...
Intercolony variation in growth of black brant goslings on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
T.F. Fondell, Paul L. Flint, J.S. Sedinger, C.A. Nicolai, J.L. Schamber
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 101-108
Recent declines in black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) are likely the result of low recruitment. In geese, recruitment is strongly affected by habitat conditions experienced by broods because gosling growth rates are indicative of forage conditions during brood rearing and strongly influence future survival and productivity. In 2006–2008, we studied...
An isotopic approach to measuring nitrogen balance in caribou
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, Layne G. Adams, Richard G. Farnell, Katherine L. Parker
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 178-188
Nutritional restrictions in winter may reduce the availability of protein for reproduction and survival in northern ungulates. We refined a technique that uses recently voided excreta on snow to assess protein status in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in late winter. Our study was the first application of this non‐invasive, isotopic...
Using a genetic mixture model to study phenotypic traits: Differential fecundity among Yukon river Chinook Salmon
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, D.F. Evenson, T.H. McLain, Blair G. Flannery
2011, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (140) 235-249
Fecundity is a vital population characteristic that is directly linked to the productivity of fish populations. Historic data from Yukon River (Alaska) Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha suggest that length‐adjusted fecundity differs among populations within the drainage and either is temporally variable or has declined. Yukon River Chinook salmon have been harvested in...
Polar bear population status in the northern Beaufort Sea, Canada, 1971-2006
I. Stirling, T. L. McDonald, E.S. Richardson, E.V. Regehr, Steven C. Amstrup
2011, Ecological Applications (21) 859-876
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the northern Beaufort Sea (NB) population occur on the perimeter of the polar basin adjacent to the northwestern islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Sea ice converges on the islands through most of the year. We used open-population capture–recapture models to estimate population size...
Developing effective sampling designs for monitoring natural resources in Alaskan national parks: an example using simulations and vegetation data
William L. Thompson, Amy E. Miller, Dorothy C. Mortenson, Andrea Woodward
2011, Biological Conservation (144) 1270-1277
Monitoring natural resources in Alaskan national parks is challenging because of their remoteness, limited accessibility, and high sampling costs. We describe an iterative, three-phased process for developing sampling designs based on our efforts to establish a vegetation monitoring program in southwest Alaska. In the first phase, we defined a sampling...
Stopover habitats of spring migrating surf scoters in southeast Alaska
Erica K. Lok, Daniel Esler, John Y. Takekawa, S.W. De La Cruz, Boyd W. Sean, D.R. Nysewander, J.R. Evenson, David H. Ward
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 92-100
Habitat conditions and nutrient reserve levels during spring migration have been suggested as important factors affecting population declines in waterfowl, emphasizing the need to identify key sites used during spring and understand habitat features and resource availability at stopover sites. We used satellite telemetry to identify stopover sites used by...
Recent acceleration of biomass burning and carbon losses in Alaskan forests and peatlands
M.R. Turetsky, E.S. Kane, J.W. Harden, R.D. Ottmar, K.L. Manies, E. Hoy, E.S. Kasischke
2011, Nature Geoscience (4) 27-31
Climate change has increased the area affected by forest fires each year in boreal North America. Increases in burned area and fire frequency are expected to stimulate boreal carbon losses. However, the impact of wildfires on carbon emissions is also affected by the severity of burning. How climate change influences...
Egg size matching by an intraspecific brood parasite
Patrick R. Lemons, James S. Sedinger
2011, Behavioral Ecology (22) 696-700
Avian brood parasitism provides an ideal system with which to understand animal recognition and its affect on fitness. This phenomenon of laying eggs in the nests of other individuals has classically been framed from the perspective of interspecific brood parasitism and host recognition of parasitic eggs. Few examples exist of...
Porphyry Cu indicator minerals in till as an exploration tool: Example from the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, Alaska, USA
Karen D. Kelley, Robert G. Eppinger, J. Lang, Steven M. Smith, David L. Fey
2011, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (11) 321-334
Porphyry Cu indicator minerals are mineral species in clastic sediments that indicate the presence of mineralization and hydrothermal alteration associated with porphyry Cu and associated skarn deposits. Porphyry Cu indicator minerals recovered from shallow till samples near the giant Pebble Cu-Au-Mo porphyry deposit in SW Alaska, USA, include apatite, andradite...
Quantifying the influence of sea ice on ocean microseism using observations from the Bering Sea, Alaska
V.C. Tsai, D.E. McNamara
2011, Geophysical Research Letters (38)
Microseism is potentially affected by all processes that alter ocean wave heights. Because strong sea ice prevents large ocean waves from forming, sea ice can therefore significantly affect microseism amplitudes. Here we show that this link between sea ice and microseism is not only a robust one but can be...
Permafrost-associated natural gas hydrate occurrences on the Alaska North Slope
Timothy S. Collett, Myung W. Lee, Warren F. Agena, John J. Miller, Kristen A. Lewis, M.V. Zyrianova, R. Boswell, T.L. Inks
2011, Marine and Petroleum Geology (28) 279-294
In the 1960s Russian scientists made what was then a bold assertion that gas hydrates should occur in abundance in nature. Since this early start, the scientific foundation has been built for the realization that gas hydrates are a global phenomenon,...
Sea otter abundance in Kenai Fjords national Park: Results from the 2010 aerial survey
Heather A. Coletti, James L. Bodkin, George G. Esslinger
2011, Report
A sea otter aerial survey was completed in Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) during June of 2010. This was the third aerial survey completed since 2002 along the Kenai Peninsula, the second specifically conducted within KEFJ. Survey methodology followed the Bodkin and Udevitz (1999) method which accounts for imperfect detection....
Coelomic implantation of satellite transmitters in the bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) and the bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis) using propofol, bupivacaine, and lidocaine
Daniel M. Mulcahy, Brett D. Gartrell, Robert E. Gill Jr., T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
2011, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (42) 54-64
Intravenous propofol was used as a general anesthetic with a 2∶1 (mg∶mg) adjunctive mixture of lidocaine and bupivacaine as local anesthetics infiltrated into the surgical sites for implantation of satellite transmitters into the right abdominal air sac of 39 female and 4 male bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri and Limosa...
Thermal erosion of a permafrost coastline: Improving process-based models using time-lapse photography
C. Wobus, R. Anderson, I. Overeem, N. Matell, G. Clow, F. Urban
2011, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (43) 474-484
Coastal erosion rates locally exceeding 30 m y-1 have been documented along Alaska's Beaufort Sea coastline, and a number of studies suggest that these erosion rates have accelerated as a result of climate change. However, a lack of direct observational evidence has limited our progress in quantifying the specific processes...
Cytochrome P4501A biomarker indication of the timeline of chronic exposure of Barrow’s goldeneyes to residual Exxon Valdez oil
Daniel Esler, Brenda E. Ballachey, Kimberly A. Trust, Samuel A. Iverson, John A. Reed, A. Keith Miles, John D. Henderson, Bruce R. Woodin, John J. Stegeman, Malcolm McAdie, Daniel M. Mulcahy, Barry W. Wilson
2011, Marine Pollution Bulletin (62) 609-614
We examined hepatic EROD activity, as an indicator of CYP1A induction, in Barrow’s goldeneyes captured in areas oiled during the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and those from nearby unoiled areas. We found that average EROD activity differed between areas during 2005, although the magnitude of the difference was reduced relative to a...
In-situ gas hydrate hydrate saturation estimated from various well logs at the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope
Myung W. Lee, Timothy S. Collett
2011, Marine and Petroleum Geology (28) 439-449
In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed detailed analysis and interpretation of available 2-D and 3-D seismic data and proposed a viable method for identifying sub-permafrost gas hydrate prospects within the gas hydrate stability zone in the Milne Point area of northern Alaska. To validate the predictions of...
